Executive C Level Round Table: Future-Proofing Customer Authentication 

Across the Middle East and Africa, rapid digital adoption in banking, insurance and other consumer sectors is transforming how customers access services. At the same time, regulators are tightening expectations on Strong Customer Authentication, with SMS and email one-time passwords increasingly viewed as insufficient on their own. As fraudsters exploit social engineering, SIM‑swap and account‑takeover techniques, organisations are under pressure to protect every digital interaction without undermining the seamless experiences customers now expect.

Yet many enterprises still rely on fragmented authentication journeys built around legacy channels and static OTPs. This creates inconsistent risk controls across web, mobile and contact‑centre touchpoints, drives up operational cost and complexity, and makes it harder to respond quickly when regulations shift or new attack methods emerge. Balancing regulatory compliance, fraud reduction and user experience is particularly challenging when identity data, risk signals and authentication policies sit in silos across business units and technology stacks.

“Designing a Trusted Digital Front Door: Strong Customer Authentication for MEA Enterprises” will bring together senior leaders from banking, insurance, payments, telecoms, retail and other key sectors to examine how to move beyond SMS OTP towards more phishing‑resistant, adaptable customer authentication.

Participants will discuss practical approaches such as passkeys, biometrics, in‑app authentication, risk‑based step‑up journeys and modern identity platforms that can orchestrate these controls consistently across channels. The session will focus on what it takes to build a trusted digital front door that addresses today’s regulatory and fraud challenges, while giving organisations the flexibility to respond to whatever authentication threats and requirements emerge next.